The three-factor model of Internet addiction: The development of the Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire

Abstract

Despite the fact that more and more clinical case studies and research reports have been published on the increasing problem of Internet addiction, no generally accepted standardized tool is available to measure problematic Internet use or Internet addiction. The aim of our study was to create such a questionnaire. On the basis of earlier studies and our previous experience with Young's (1998a) Internet Addiction Test, initially, we created a 30-item questionnaire, which was assessed together with other questions regarding participants' Internet use. Data were collected online from 1,037 persons (54.1% of them male; mean age, 23.3 years; SD, 9.1). As a result of reliability analysis and factor analysis, we reduced the number of items to 18 and created the Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire (PIUQ) containing three subscales: obsession, neglect, and control disorder. Cronbach's of the PIUQ is .87 (Cronbach's of the subscales is . 85, .74, and .76, respectively). The test-retest correlation of the PIUQ is .90. The PIUQ proved to be a reliable measurement for assessing the extent of problems caused by the "misuse" of the Internet; however, further analysis is needed.

Internet Addiction: A Systematic Review of Epidemiological Research for the Last Decade

“…All sample sizes were between 1000 and 2000 participants, with the exception of a sample of 16,925 regular Internet users in the Netherlands [53]. Prevalence rates varied, ranging from 1.8% of a sample of 1,147 participants in Sweden (age range 15-94 years) who experienced all of the inquired problems due to Internet use [58], whereas Demetrovics and colleagues [55] reported that of a sample of 1,037 Hungarian young adults, 4.3% had significant problems because of their Internet use as measured via the PIUQ. A complete summary of the epidemiological studies of Internet addiction in adults is provided in Table 3.…”

“…With regards to sociodemographic variables, this includes male gender [55,56,90,92,[95][96][97][98]100], younger age [92,96], city residence [94], single parent and restructured family [55,94], being single [55], financial difficulties, university level education [96], as well as Asian ethnicity [91] were reported.…”

“…Miscellaneous classification criteria for Internet addiction have been used in a total of eight studies including adult samples [53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60]. All sample sizes were between 1000 and 2000 participants, with the exception of a sample of 16,925 regular Internet users in the Netherlands [53].…”

“…Of these, 14 studies used miscellaneous criteria to identify Internet addiction in adolescents [40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52]. In addition to the adolescent samples, miscellaneous classification criteria for Internet addiction have been used in adult samples, including a total of eight studies [53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60]. Classifications vary tremendously, ranging from the adoption of official criteria for substance use disorders or pathological gambling, to no or few criteria relevant for an addiction diagnosis.…”

Reliability and construct validity of the Online Cognition Scale in the Portuguese (Brazil) version (OCS-BR)

“…Despite being an extensively used instrument, the IAT is also the most criticized one 7 . The arguments report that a solid constructed theoretical perspective is lacking to make an evaluation of the PIU 8 .…”